


constantly, consistently, continually—you

by yourmoon



Category: Lovelyz, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2019-11-04 19:00:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17903720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourmoon/pseuds/yourmoon
Summary: Mingyu was not a love-at-the-first-sight believer. Not until he met Sujeong.





	1. Constantly

“Tomorrow afternoon????” Sujeong groaned, cradling her phone on her shoulder as she rummaged her bag. “But Auntie, I have exam tomorrow. How am I supposed to study if the lights are out?” Sujeong couldn’t risk her grade in Art History again, not this time.

Last month, she totally screwed up and got a huge red C on her progress test. It was her mistakes though, she admitted it. If she didn’t get too engrossed with the TV series which Yein recommended her to watch in one-sitting, she wouldn’t get that ugly red mark on her paper. But she couldn’t blame Yein either. Yein didn’t know that she had an exam coming on the next day. Besides, she was the one who decided to watch it that night right away in one-sitting, just as what Yein told her to. Bad timing, indeed.

Sujeong’s shoulder slumped as she ended the phone call she had with the lady landlord.

“And I cannot sleep in the dark.” She mumbled, unlocking the door.

“Something is wrong?”

Sujeong startled at the voices. Putting her hand on her chest, trying to calm it down, she turned around to face 6’2 feet guy in front of her. Mingyu was still wearing his barista uniform. Judging from the coffee stain in his white shirt, Sujeong guessed he just got back from work.

“The electricity in my room was cut off. I already told Ms. Jung, but she said the electrician will come tomorrow afternoon. The thing is, I have an exam tomorrow. How am I supposed to study?” Sujeong shrugged.

Mingyu wrinkled his eyebrows. “But the light in this hallway is on though.” He said, pointing his index finger up.

“I said, the electricity _in my room._ ” Sujeong sighed. “Well, I guess, tonight I’ll stay at 24 hours coffee shop then.”

Sujeong was about to open her door when Mingyu slightly touched her arm and said, “Wait, you can stay at my place and study there.”

“I can?” Sujeong raised her eyebrows, looking up at Mingyu suspiciously. Sure, they had been neighbors for two years. They were also on the same department in college. But Sujeong had never, not even once, went inside Mingyu’s apartment. They usually exchanged ‘hi’ in the hallway, simply had a small chit-chat, then went inside their own apartment.

“Of course.” Mingyu said as he turned his key on the lock until they heard a small ‘click’. He pushed the door open, waiting Sujeong to respond.

“Are you sure? Because I don’t want to bother you, and how abou—” Sujeong didn’t have the chance to finish her sentences when Mingyu cut her off.

“Relax. That’s what neighbors are for. Besides, I don’t want you to get C in one of your favorite class.” One second after that, Mingyu admitted that he was so dumb for letting his thought out loud. He only could pray to God so that Sujeong wouldn’t question him later. But Sujeong’s furrowed eyebrows told him otherwise.

“O..kay. If you are sure then I will get my things then head up to your place perhaps at,” Sujeong paused to look down at her wristwatch and continued, “7?”

“Cool. See you around then.” Mingyu showed off his canine teeth, trying to ignore the firework that suddenly blasted inside his heart.

***

When life offered you a chance, you should go and grab as soon as you can. That’s what Mingyu thought when he asked Sujeong to study and stay at his place tonight. He was aware what would happen to his heart when his forever crush, Ryu Sujeong, was in the same room with him. His room, precisely. Mingyu felt his heart pounding in his chest. But there was no going back, and he didn’t want to redo it for anything.

Mingyu was seating on the bar stool across the room, with a jar of chocolate cookies in his hands. Sujeong was three feet away in front of him, sitting on floor with her books and journals scattering around her. Her eyebrows furrowed as if she put all her concentration at the pink laptop in front of her. Sujeong hugged Mingyu’s cushion and rested her chin on it. Sometimes, she would push back her hair in frustration. It made her bangs looked a little bit messy, a cute messy. With her white T-Shirt and pink sweatpants, Sujeong looked…adorable in his eyes.

The first time he met Sujeong was when he worked a noon-shift at the coffee shop. Mingyu was not a love-at-first-sight believer. But when Sujeong ordered a glass of cappuccino latte with her snaggletooth peeking as she smiled at him, Mingyu couldn’t help but feeling dumbstruck at the sight of her. When Sujeong asked him,

“Mingyu, right?” Mingyu felt so dumb because he couldn’t even properly let out a “How did you know?” without stuttering.

“First, there is a nametag,” Mingyu followed Sujeong’s gaze down at his left chest. Another point for him being dumb, “And second, we are in the same department.” Full point for him being the dumbest person ever.

There were more than 300 people on his department, it made sense that he couldn’t keep track of each person. But not knowing that Ryu Sujeong went to college at the same year with him made him wondered, was he living under the rock all this time?

A few months later, the lady landlord told him that he was going to have a new neighbor. He was planning to buy some groceries and bake a welcoming cake to his new neighbor that evening. He was surprised to see Sujeong came out from a room across his.

“Mingyu? You live here?” Sujeong asked. Mingyu replied her with a quick nod and smile. That day was Mingyu’s first win.

They occasionally met at some classes. Mingyu couldn’t say that they were close though. They were just neighbors and friends, just friend without any adjectives to complement it. Sujeong had her inner circle, some girls like Yein, Myungeun and Kei. They stick together like glue. Wherever Sujeong were, he could spot one of those girls around her. Sometimes with Wonwoo from English Literature department, since everyone at the campus knew he was Myungeun’s significant other.

Sujeong was a bright and cheerful girl. Most of guys he knew were head over heels for her. Only fools who only had a few brain cells left didn’t fall for her. Mingyu heard some news that every guy who confessed to her got rejected, literally right away. Probably that’s why he had been holding up all this time. He was afraid Sujeong would reject him. But he couldn’t help but wonder the reasons why she always pushed away guys who liked her.

“Why you don’t have a boyfriend?”

“What?” Sujeong tore her gaze from her laptop and looked up at him. That’s when he realized he let his thought out loud, again. Mingyu cleared his throat and walked towards her with his jar full of handmade chocolate cookies.

“Do you want some cookies?” He asked, prayed that Sujeong didn’t hear his spoken thought.

Sujeong shook her head. Mingyu doubt it was her answer to him offering cookies. “I heard what I heard, Mingyu. What was your first question again?” And Mingyu was right.

He took a seat in front of her, leaning his back against the wall. Right, there was no going back. “Why you don’t have a boyfriend?”

Sujeong nodded, probably nodding at her own thought, that she heard just fine, puffing her cheeks, making him hard to control his brain so that it stopped telling him to reach and squeeze her cheeks. “Because no one wants to.” She said as her eyes went back to her laptop again.

Mingyu chuckled at her answer. “You might be the smartest student in our department, but you are clearly a terrible liar, Sujeong. Half of my friends came to me, saying that they just got their heart broken. By you.”

“I feel terribly sorry for them, but it’s just…” Sujeong exhaled and shrugged, “I don’t like them.”

“Why don’t you give it a try?” He grabbed a cookie and shoved it to his mouth.

“So that’s what you think it is all about?” Sujeong looked up. Seeing his confused look, she decided to turn off her laptop and putting it aside. She was still hugging Mingyu’s cushion as she locked her gaze with him. Mingyu could hear his heartbeat loudly thumping inside his chest. He prayed again, hoping it wasn’t loud enough to reach Sujeong’s ears.

“That love is like a game. So you don’t have to like the game, as long as you want to give it a try, it doesn’t matter. If you fail, you can try again? That’s it?” Sujeong said in one breath.

“Whoa, calm down. Calm down. That’s not what I meant.” Mingyu felt him panicking inside. He put chocolate cookies jar in front of her. “Here, have some cookies first.”

He was relieved when he heard Sujeong let out peal of giggles and took one cookie. “It’s fine, Mingyu. I am not a judge of love-life either.” She mumbled with her mouth was full with chocolate cookie. “What about you?”

Mingyu pointed his finger at himself, “Me? What about it?”

“I never heard you have a girlfriend. Well, I heard that you went out with some girls, but I never heard you _actually_ have a girlfriend.”

Well, Sujeong was right. Mingyu went out with some girls at campus. Some juniors or even seniors. But it’s because Mingyu couldn’t say no when they asked him a favor. Like, “Tomorrow is my brother’s birthday. Would you help me pick a present for him? You know, guy’s perspective.” Or “Mingyu, I cannot find Prof. Lee’s book, would you show me where I can buy it this Saturday night?” Stuff like that, Mingyu had a long list.

He hummed for a few moments, his eyes wandered around room, pretending that he was thinking hard. “Well,” he gave a dramatic pause, landed his eyes on Sujeong’s and said, “I already like someone.”

Sujeong only nodded, shoving her fourth cookies into her mouth in one go and clapping her hands to remove the crumbs. She glanced at the clock that showed 12.55 a.m and gasped.

Mingyu followed her gaze and said, “You should go to sleep. You’ll go to war tomorrow. Having enough rest is essential.” He stood up and then added, “I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“What?? No, I’ll sleep on the couch.” Sujeong arranged the cushion and her blanket on the couch before standing up. “I’m going to brush my teeth first, and this, is my sanctuary. Ok? Don’t trespass.”

“Like hell I will.” Mingyu whispered, ignoring what Sujeong had said and picking up her blanket before putting it on his bed instead. Mingyu quickly grabbed his blanket and plopped down on his couch, closing his eyes and pretending to sleep, just in time Sujeong unlocked the bathroom’s door.

“Mingyu!! I told you don’t trespass!” Mingyu couldn’t see Sujeong but he could picture her in his mind, standing in front of him, her hands on her waist with annoyed expression.

“I am sleeping, Sujeong.” He mumbled. Mingyu heard her sigh and the sound of her light foot steps in wooden floor getting farther.

“Can I...keep the lights on?” Mingyu opened his eyes at Sujeong’s timid whisper and looked up to find her already laying comfortably in his bed.

“Sure, whatever you want.” He replied, there was a smile in his voice as he laid back down. The smile on his face stayed a little bit longer as he was processing what he just saw: Sujeong slept in his bed. This sounded a little bit wrong and creepy (which Mingyu didn’t care about it), but he hoped he could smell Sujeong’s strawberry shampoo on his pillow later on.

“Actually...I already like someone too.” Mingyu’s smile dropped in instant. There was a sledgehammer that hit his heart in a second, a pang of jealousy, anxious, all the feelings that hoped he wouldn’t have to feel.

He gulped and asked. “Who?” Mingyu wished his voice didn’t come out that low and crooked.

One second. Two seconds. Five seconds. Ten seconds. He waited and didn’t get the answer. Mingyu took a glance at Sujeong who already fell asleep, her left hand under the pillow, another one clutching into tiny fist.

Mingyu was not sure he could sleep tonight. But deep down in his heart, he made an oath, that starting from tomorrow, he would make the first move. There was plenty of time and chance to take that _someone’s_ place. If he had to take bullets to be that _someone_ , he would.


	2. consistently

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If Mingyu tries to get Sujeong out of his head, he has to know that he is doing a terrible job of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It has nothing to do with the storyline, actually, but I mentioned a song titled 나만, 봄 (Bom) by BOL4. It is a good song which gives you that warm and fuzzy feeling, you might want to give a try!

The class ended ten minutes ago, but Mingyu was still glued on his chair, staring at a big E on his midterm paper. Realizing there was nothing he could do to undo the exam, he sighed and leaned back, hands messaging his nape. Had he foreseen that he would screw up his midterm exam, he wouldn’t eagerly agree when his boss asked him to do overtime work. The money he got from overtime work was green, it justified him if he was tempted by it. Mingyu jumped a little when he heard someone called him from behind (he heard some rumors that his campus was haunted).

“Oh, you’re early!”

He turned around to see a familiar face, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw her feet were on the ground. At least he was sure Kei wasn’t a ghost.

“Ah, I don’t take Mr. Lee’s class this semester. I am about to go home anyway.” He said, quickly shoving his midterm paper into his bag. He stood up in a hurry, bumping his hips into the corner of the desk with a loud thud. Mingyu saw Kei glanced at it, worried.

“Are you okay?”

Mingyu waved his hand dismissively. “I don’t feel anything.” He lied, patting his hips to snuff out the sore he immediately felt. He placed a bet with himself it would turn into an ugly bruise.

Kei nodded though her eyes were still full of concern. Her face suddenly lit up when she looked back at Mingyu, as if there was a light bulb went on over her head.

“Ah anyway! I remember something!” He saw her rummaging her bag, mumbling “Where is it?” to herself until she finally fished out a pink pop iPod of her bag.

“Can you give this back to Sujeong?”

Mingyu widened his eyes, his stomach twisted when she mentioned her name. He felt like he couldn’t let out his voice so he just raised his hands, index finger pointing at himself, and he was confident that Kei understood what he meant.

“You live next door right?”

“Across, actually.” He corrected, hoping his voice didn’t sound too timid.

“Same difference.”

Mingyu saw her almost rolled her eyes. Kei took his hand and put Sujeong’s iPod on his palm. The sudden action surprised him. He _barely_ knew her, well, of course they went to some classes together but it didn’t make him friends with her. They talked only in a professional level.

“Sujeong left this when we ate our lunch. I know she cannot live a day without her iPod, so I hope you can do me a favor. Oh, do _her_ a favor.” Kei leaned forward when she emphasized the word _her_ , a smile appeared on her face.

An image of Sujeong left the campus with a guy this afternoon flashed in his mind. She must be in a hurry that she left her most favorite thing in her life. _Or_ maybe, it didn’t matter anymore when she was with _the guy_. Mingyu tried to shake the second thought. He weighed the iPod on his hand. He just needed to knock at Sujeong’s door, tell her that Kei told him to drop this for her, smile and say ‘have a good day’, turn back and go back to his room. Easy, nothing could go wrong.

“Okay.” He finally said, nodding.

“Okay?” Kei’s eyes turned into a crescent, giving him an OK hand gesture.

Mingyu nodded once again, flashing a bright smile before he excused himself. “Then, I’ll get going. Bye, Kei.”

Kei waved her hand and said “Bye!” She couldn’t see Mingyu’s smile dropped as soon as his back was on her sight. Mingyu walked out the door, heaving out a sigh. There was too much on his mind, he hoped sighing too often in a day wouldn’t kill him.

The crisp spring breeze welcomed him as he stepped out of the building, making a way to the bus stop near his campus. Sujeong’s iPod was still on his hand. A few months ago, he swore to himself that he would make the first move to get close to Sujeong. He confidently kept saying to himself that with him being her neighbors was a sign that the universe was on his side. There was plenty of time for him to ask her out, so Mingyu was looking for the perfect time. But a week ago, when he saw a guy laughing with Sujeong in a hall—the same guy he saw this afternoon—followed by Sujeong’s laughter filled in the empty hall, with her hitting the guy playfully, his heart sank into his stomach. Sujeong’s voice “I already like someone.” echoed in his mind. Mingyu read a book one day, a random book that he borrowed from his coworker, Minghao—that when a person fell in love, their face said it all. They’re getting prettier day by day. Mingyu noticed it too, Sujeong was glowing, and there was no way Mingyu would want to change it.

He shouldered his backpack when he saw a bus was coming to his way. _What if Sujeong wasn’t home?_ The door opened automatically, allowing Mingyu to step in. _What if that guy he saw all this week with Sujeong was home, with Sujeong?_ Mingyu’s eyes scanned for an empty seat. There were only a few people inside the bus, a grandma knitting at the front row, a businessman who was tapping his feet impatiently across the aisle from the grandma, and a high school student hugging her bag on her lap behind him. Mingyu crawled toward the back of the bus, planting himself on the seat with a huff. He stared at Sujeong’s iPod on his palm.

A couple of minutes later, he found himself unlocking her iPod (not necessarily unlock since Sujeong didn’t set a password on her iPod), blinking at the screen which showed the recent song she listened to. The corner of his lips quirked up, showing a grin as he saw BOL4’s song titled Bom appeared. Sujeong was the kind of girl who would listen to a song that matched the season. Mingyu found it adorable. Out of curiosity, Mingyu opened her playlists, wanted to know other songs she listened to in this spring.

His heart stopped beating for a second. He widened his eyes in disbelief when he saw there was a playlist titled with his name. _His name_ , Kim Mingyu. The pink flower and love emoticons after his name weren’t helping. With shaky hands, he opened it. The playlist, _Kim Mingyu playlist_ , was dominated by BOL4’s songs, and Bom was under _this_ playlist. There were other familiar songs, only a few that he didn’t recognize (he made a mental note to search them later on). But Mingyu could draw a conclusion, all the songs on _Kim Mingyu playlist_ had one thing in common. They were all love songs.

The bus slowed down, prompting him to look out the windows. He stood up quickly as he realized it was his stop. He paced towards the door, bumping the businessman in his way, yelping a “Sorry.” couple of times before he stepped out on the ground. His apartment was 10 minutes away from the bus stop. Without thinking twice, Mingyu ran.

His mind was tangled with questions. _Why_ _did she name her playlist after his name? Was it really his name? Or maybe it was someone else’s? But was there any other Kim Mingyu in his campus? In this country?_ _In this world?_

His room (and Sujeong’s) was on the fifth floor but he couldn’t wait for the elevator. He took the stairs instead, still running. As soon as he was right in front of Sujeong’s door, he steadied himself with his hands on his knees for a few seconds before he knocked at her door.

Mingyu was out of his mind, even he was very aware of it. He didn’t know what he was supposed to say when he met Sujeong. Did he need to be straight to the point and ask why she named her playlist after his name? Or did he need to beat around the bush to break the tension? _His_ tension, to be precise.

His breath hitched in his throat when Sujeong opened the door. Sujeong looked surprised for a second when she saw him still panting, but she took control of her face immediately, flashing a smile at him and asked, “Oh Mingyu! Can I help you?”

Mingyu peeked behind her and took a glance at the shoes which lining neatly near her. _There was no sign of someone inside except her._ Mingyu took a deep breath, he was sure of one thing: he needed an explanation of whatever it was.

“Do you want to grab some ice creams with me?”

Mingyu saw Sujeong was taken back at his sudden invitation. But Mingyu didn’t care and there was no going back. He prayed and prayed as he held her gaze, trying to ignore his heart which went into a frantic mode.

After a minute passed by (even though it felt like years for Mingyu), Sujeong nodded.

“Sure.”


End file.
